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Soriano Fills Empty Chair in Yankees’ Bullpen

The chairs were nearly side by side in front of neighboring dressing stalls that just happened to be devoid of tenants but contained the kind of ancillary materials typically scattered about a baseball clubhouse.

On the injured Mariano Rivera’s seat was a copy of a just-published Yankees Magazine, a 2012 American League division series souvenir edition featuring on its glossy cover the returning hero Andy Pettitte.

Implied meaning: next year, Mr. Rivera, this will be you.

Rafael Soriano’s chair was occupied by a rather large brown box, the contents of which couldn’t be known.

Obvious symbolism: it is postseason time, and heavy is the burden on Soriano, standing in for the greatest closer ever.

In the absence of the two pitchers — Rivera’s for obvious reasons and Soriano’s because he is not among the most loquacious clubhouse residents — you could imagine Clint Eastwood, in his latest Hollywood role as an octogenarian baseball scout, strutting right up for quite the fictionalized chat.

There is so much to say about the back end of the Yankees’ bullpen before their division series starts in Baltimore on Sunday. Begin with the astonishing development that the bullpen appears to have remained armed and dangerous despite being without Rivera in the closer’s role for the first time in 15 years.

Then again, these are the Yankees, of which Pettitte remarked, “The fact that Sori’s even here is an example of what they want to do and where their heads are.”

And their wallets, for who else would even think of — much less could afford — an $11 million setup man and insurance policy for the now 42-year-old Rivera? Even General Manager Brian Cashman argued that point before the Soriano free-agent acquisition was completed in 2011.

“I just didn’t think it was an efficient way to allocate our remaining resources,” he said, admitting that lifting Soriano off the Tampa Bay roster was the brainstorm of Hal Steinbrenner, managing general partner and relief pitching expert. But Cashman also knew enough to add, “Twenty-nine G.M.s would love to have their owners force Rafael Soriano down their throat.”

Photo

Rafael Soriano saved 42 games in 45 chances in place of the injured Mariano Rivera.Credit
Jonathan Ernst/Reuters

You wonder if the more measured Steinbrenner ever had the temptation to have Cashman write “resource allocation” 1,000 times on a blackboard, the way his father, George, probably would have after Rivera tore a knee ligament while shagging flies and Soriano proceeded to save 42 games in 45 chances.

Eastwood to Soriano’s chair, “But can you do it now, under the postseason gun, like my main man over here, Panama Slim?”

The rare playoff failure aside, how do you even begin to process Rivera’s 42 saves in 140 postseason innings for an earned run average of 0.70? Soriano, conversely, has pitched in two postseasons, never beyond the division series.

“Not to be able to look out there and see Mo is obviously going to be strange for a lot of people who have been here,” said Cody Eppley, one of the Yankees’ middle-inning relievers. “There may never be anyone again of his character, but it seems like the Yankees have a way of filling roles when they have to.”

Filling a role is one thing; living up to it is another. Following Rivera in the postseason could be like trying to replace John Wooden at U.C.L.A., or Michael Jordan in Chicago.

“When you look at all of what Mo’s done, it’s amazing,” Joba Chamberlain said. “And he’s not done yet. I think the guy’s probably going to live for about 800 more years, the way he stays healthy and takes care of himself. At the same time, to see the way Sori’s stepped up, I mean, to come in and have 40-plus saves without closing the first month of the season is pretty incredible.”

What happens if Soriano continues to define incredible, pitches lights-out this month and the Yankees win a 28th World Series?

Coming off a year’s inactivity, and with his contract expiring, what can the Yankees assume and how much should they pay Rivera, who has said he will return? Soriano, meanwhile, could opt out of a deal that would pay him $14 million next season with the hope of scoring a longer-term deal off his 2012 numbers.

Can the Yankees, who want to avoid payroll-tax penalties and also have other pressing areas to address, again invest so heavily in Soriano as a projected seventh- or eighth-inning specialist? Would they entertain the heretical thought of committing to Soriano and cutting ties with the great and beloved Rivera?

Logic would suggest that the re-emergence of Chamberlain in the past month as a reliable seventh-inning man and potential future closer, along with the continued presence of David Robertson, will mean that Soriano is auditioning for a job elsewhere next season.

First things first: the division series with the Orioles, the renewal of the Jeffrey Maier Classic, a different kind of closing pressure where the margin of catastrophic error can shrivel to the width of a pinstripe.

A version of this article appears in print on October 7, 2012, on page SP3 of the New York edition with the headline: Soriano Fills Empty Chair In Yankees’ Bullpen. Order Reprints|Today's Paper|Subscribe